Halloween post: When AI meets the CAT

It was late October — the season of masks, mischief, and things that are not quite what they seem — when the Condominium Authority Tribunal released a decision that reads like a ghost story for the digital age.

In Janssen v. TSCC 1851, a condo owner, unhappy with a chargeback for water damage, decided to seek justice before the Tribunal. But rather than drafting his own submissions, he turned to a new kind of ghostly spirit — artificial intelligence.

The result? A submission that looked convincing at first glance — well-structured, confident, neatly formatted — yet beneath the costume, something was off. What arrived at the Tribunal’s doorstep was no treat. It was a trick.

👻 The Brief That Came from the Machine

The AI-generated document came cloaked in legal language, but behind the mask lurked pure invention. It cited ghostly cases that never existed, misquoted laws, and stitched together arguments that had no pulse in the real world.

The Tribunal had already warned that this dispute likely fell outside its jurisdiction — chargebacks related to repairs and maintenance don’t belong in the CAT’s cauldron. Yet when the owner was asked to respond to this issue, the AI conjured an entirely different tale — one filled with spectral citations and phantom reasoning.

The Tribunal noticed the deception. In its written decision, it even used the term “hallucinations” — this is AI code for confident fabrications that shimmer like mirages before vanishing under scrutiny.

What was supposed to be a legal submission turned out to be a Frankenstein’s humanoid corpse: assembled from scraps of code, animated by overconfidence, and ultimately, lifeless in law.

🧛 When the Mask Slips

There’s something fitting — and a little eerie — about this case arriving just as pumpkins appear on porches. We live in a time when digital ghosts draft letters, compose essays, and even plead cases — but sometimes, what’s beneath the surface is nothing more than smoke and illusion.

The Tribunal saw through the disguise. The decision stands as a reminder that AI may wear the mask of authority, but that mask can slip. Beneath it may lurk an argument without substance, or a citation that never lived. In the wrong hands, AI doesn’t just get things wrong — it haunts the truth.

🎭 Lessons from the Legal Graveyard

Before you let an algorithm whisper your submissions into the night, remember: not all helpers are friendly spirits. Some come bearing candy-coated nonsense.

Beware these lurking lessons:

• Don’t be tricked by polish. AI can dress up nonsense in persuasive prose. Always lift the mask — verify every citation and case it names.

• Beware of goblins of verbosity. AI loves to ramble through the fog, piling on paragraphs that sound profound but lead nowhere. The CAT has no patience for wordy ghosts.

• Respect the CAT’s jurisdiction. Even the cleverest AI can’t conjure jurisdiction where none exists.

🎃 Happy Halloween from the Condo Adviser

May your arguments be sound, your citations real, and your ghosts — strictly decorative. 👻